Arne Slot can break Prem curse of Dutch bosses from Rudd Gullit to Erik ten Hag

Arne Slot became the 10th Dutch manager in Premier League history when he joined Liverpool.

The former Feyenoord boss took on what many observers considered the unenviable task of succeeding the legendary Jurgen Klopp at Anfield. But the 45-year-old coach has made a perfect start to life in the Premier League, with three straight wins – including a 3-0 mauling of Manchester United.

Hammering and humiliating your arch-rivals will always go a long way in helping to win over any doubters. And with the Reds yet to concede a single goal – the only team in the division to have done so – Liverpool are now being touted as potential title challengers, who could give champions Manchester City and perennial bridesmaids Arsenal a run for their money.

For that to happen, Slot must do something no coach from the Netherlands has achieved. Not one of the nine Dutch coaches to previously test their mettle in England’s top flight have ever got close to getting their hands on the Premier League trophy.

Here we take a look at the mixed fortunes of the Dutch managers who have come to England – with our ranking of bosses who promised Total Football but delivered total misery, and those who did get their hands on silverware, but couldn’t win the big one.

9. Frank de Boer (Crystal Palace)

Premier League games: 4

W/D/L: 0/0/4

Win percentage: 0%

Trophies: None

Highest league finish: N/A

Lowest league finish: N/A

“The worst manager in the history of the Premier League” is a pretty damning epithet. But it’s hard to argue with Jose Mourinho‘s assessment of Frank de Boer, who correctly pointed out that the former Ajax man lost “every game”.

Palace were defeated in each of their first four league matches of the season in 2017/18 without scoring a single goal – the first team in 93 years to have begun a top-flight season in such a miserable fashion. He left having managed the team for only 360 minutes of game time in the league, making it the shortest reign of the Premier League era in terms of number of matches.

A 1-0 loss to Burnley was the final straw and he was sacked that September. Dismal.

8. Rene Meulensteen (Fulham)

Premier League games: 13

W/D/L: 3/1/9

Win percentage: 23%

Trophies: None

Highest league finish: N/A

Lowest league finish: N/A

A reign that was actually shorter than De Boer’s if measured in days (75), Rene Meulensteen’s whopping three wins with Fulham make him look like Rinus Michels compared to the hapless Palace flop. But he at least got 13 league games in charge before the Cottagers gave him the boot.

He first worked alongside countryman Martin Jol at Craven Cottage in November 2013, before Jol was dismissed after four defeats in a row that left Fulham in the relegation zone. He clinched those three victories before the New Year, but a six-game losing streak followed, which saw owner Tony Khan sack his second manager of the season and appoint ex-Bayern Munich boss Felix Magath – another inspired appointment.

Fulham were relegated and Meulensteen went off to manage in Israel and India.

7. Dick Advocaat (Sunderland)

Premier League games: 17

W/D/L: 3/6/8

Win percentage: 17.6%

Trophies: None

Highest league finish: 16th (Sunderland, 2014-15)

Lowest league finish: 16th (Sunderland, 2014-15)

Dick Advocaat replaced Gus Poyet at Sunderland on a temporary basis in March 2015 and saved the Black Cats from relegation. Who can forget him crying on the pitch after getting a vital 0-0 draw with Arsenal that secured their Premier League safety?

But like many a caretaker manager before him and since, when the well-travelled 67-year-old decided not to retire and take the job permanently, things took a turn for the worse. Worse being an understatement – the following season they failed to win any of their first eight games and he was gone by October.

Still, he was a good manager overall – as his major honours with PSV Eindhoven, Glasgow Rangers and Zenit Saint Petersburg – where he won the UEFA Cup – prove.

6. Ruud Gullit (Chelsea, Newcastle United)

Premier League games: 104

W/D/L: 41/26/37

Premier League win percentage: 39.4%

Trophies: FA Cup (1996-97)

Highest league finish: sixth (Chelsea, 1996-97)

Lowest league finish: 13th (Newcastle, 1998-99)

The first Dutch manager in the Premier League, Ruud Gullit was a superstar signing for Chelsea, having gained football immortality thanks to his legendary exploits as a player with AC Milan and the Netherlands. The former Ballon d’Or winner wowed at Stamford Bridge on the pitch, and when Glenn Hoddle left to manage England, took the role of player-manager.

He signed exotic players, played a swashbuckling style of football and finished sixth in his first season, winning the FA Cup – the club’s first major trophy in 26 years. But he was sacked the next campaign over a disagreement with the board – a sign of things to come for a man who could seemingly fall out with anyone.

That was shown when he returned to management with Newcastle for the 1998/99 season and led his team to the FA Cup final but resigned five games into the 1999/2000 season, having famously picked a fight with star striker Alan Shearer. He left the Premier League’s greatest goalscorer out of the starting line-up for a derby against Sunderland, which Newcastle lost 2-1. And that was that.

5. Ronald Koeman (Southampton, Everton)

Premier League games: 123

W/D/L: 55/27/41

Win percentage: 44.7%

Trophies: None

Highest league finish: sixth (Southampton, 2015-16)

Lowest league finish: seventh (Southampton 2014-15, Everton 2016-17)

Another superstar from the legendary Netherlands side that won the 1988 European Championship and a stunning player for Ajax and Barcelona, Koeman shone when he took the Southampton job in June 2016, bringing in such talents as Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic, Toby Alderweireld and Sadio Mane.

The Saints finished seventh and then the next year, having brought in defensive colossus Virgil van Dijk, went one higher, finishing sixth with a record points haul for the club. Tremendous work.

But then he joined Everton. While impressing in his first season, finishing seventh and qualifying for Europe in a season powered by the goals of Romelu Lukaku, he soon fell victim to the pattern that has befallen every Everton manager since David Moyes.

He survived putting red baubles on his Christmas tree – a cardinal sin as far as some Toffees fans are concerned – but not a woeful run of results in his second season after Lukaku left, which saw Everton stuck in the relegation zone and Koeman sacked in October, after just 16 months in charge at Goodison Park.

4. Martin Jol (Tottenham, Fulham)

Premier League games: 202

W/D/L: 75/51/76

Win percentage: 37.1%

Trophies: None

Highest league finish: fifth (Tottenham 2005-06, 2006-07)

Lowest league finish: 12th (Fulham, 2012-13)

Martin Jol has the record for most games as a Dutchman in the Premier League having taken charge of both Tottenham, from 2004-2007, and Fulham, from 2011-13. And he remains a popular figure among Spurs fans, having led them to what was their highest league since 1990 when finishing fifth, which he did two seasons in a row.

Sadly for Tottenham, he didn’t manage to lift any silverware, but his time at White Hart Lane is remembered fondly thanks to the goal exploits of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, and his sometimes tetchy but often jovial manner. Unfortunately there was more of the former in his final year, with his side languishing in the bottom three when chairman Daniel Levy pulled the plug – doing so during a 2-1 home defeat against Genk in the UEFA Cup, via text message. Classy as ever, Daniel.

Jol returned to the these shores with Fulham in 2011-12 and had an impressive first campaign, finishing ninth behind Liverpool in eighth on goal difference alone. A respectable 12th place finish followed the year after that, but wallowing in the relegation mire in early 2013-14, he was sacked and replaced by Meulensteen. And didn’t that go well.

3. Guus Hiddink (Chelsea)

Premier League games: 34

W/D/L: 18/12/4

Win percentage: 52.9%

Trophies: FA Cup (Chelsea, 2008-09)

Highest league finish: Third (Chelsea, 2008-09)

Lowest league finish: 10th (Chelsea, 2015-16)

There’s no doubt Guus Hiddink is a special coach. He achieved it all and then some at PSV Eindhoven, winning the European Cup in 1988, which he followed up by taking both the Netherlands and Russia to the World Cup semi-finals. And while a spell at Real Madrid was short-lived, after remarks about the board and finances of the club, he was a coup for Chelsea as caretaker manager on two occasions.

After Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked following a terrible run in 2008-09, Hiddink won 11 out of 13 games at Stamford Bridge to finish third (while doing what Mourinho couldn’t and knocking Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool out of the Champions League, before the controversial semi-final defeat to Barcelona that had Didier Drogba yelling “it’s a disgrace”). He also won the FA Cup against Everton before resuming his duties with Russia.

He returned for a second spell after Mourinho was sacked six years later, with Chelsea just one point above the relegation zone in 16th. After going unbeaten in 12 games (a club record at the time) he lifted the Blues up to 10th place and then left with a fond farewell from all involved.

2. Louis van Gaal (Manchester United)

Premier League games: 76

W/D/L: 39/19/18

Win percentage: 51.3%

Trophies: FA Cup (Manchester United, 2015-16)

Highest league finish: Fourth (Manchester United, 2014-15)

Lowest league finish: Fifth (Manchester United, 2015-16)

One of the most decorated coaches in world football thanks in large part to his legendary Ajax side, Louis van Gaal was appointed by United for the 2014-15 season after David Moyes had been sacked. But there’s a reason he’s had so many jobs, because like many of the Dutch managers on this list, he could start a row in an empty phone box.

Van Gaal said United were “broken” and that he had a big rebuild on his hands, but he finished fourth in his first season, despite falling out with record signing Angel Di Maria. His football certainly wasn’t pretty, yet he managed to grind out results. However the patience of the Old Trafford faithful soon wore thin when his conservative tactics grew even more tiresome in his second season.

United finished a disappointing fifth in 2015/16 while Leicester romped to the title, and worse yet for the Red Devils, they were knocked out of the Europa League by Klopp’s Liverpool. Not even winning the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace after extra time could save Van Gaal’s job, as he and his staff were unceremoniously sacked by the club just two days later.

1. Erik ten Hag (Manchester United)

Premier League games: 79

W/D/L: 42/12/25

Win percentage: 53.1%

Trophies: Carabao Cup (Manchester United, 2022-23)

Highest league finish: Third (Manchester United, 2022-23)

Lowest league finish: Third (Manchester United, 2022-23)

You might not have expected to see Erik ten Hag in the number one slot on this list, especially after a miserable league campaign last term which saw United slump to a shocking eighth place – their worst ever Premier League finish. The Red Devils lost a staggering 14 league games last year and ended the season with a -1 goal difference. Horrendous.

But in his first year at Old Trafford, the man who reached the Champions League semi-finals with Ajax had a very good league campaign, the record 7-0 humiliation against Liverpool at Anfield aside. United finished in an impressive third place and racked up plenty of wins along the way, which account for Ten Hag’s statistical feat here.

Along the way there’s been a League Cup win over Newcastle and an FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City, before gaining revenge by winning the same fixture at Wembley a year later, beating their local rivals and clinching the trophy, while saving Ten Hag’s job in the process. However, few fans are convinced by a team that lacks identity and cohesiveness.

The new season has started in terrible fashion, with a narrow 1-0 win over Fulham at home followed up by a last gasp 2-1 defeat away at Brighton, before the aforementioned 3-0 thrashing by Liverpool at Old Trafford. Whether Ten Hag will get the chance to see out this season remains to be seen, but not even Gary Neville would bet on United to win the Premier League anytime soon while he remains at the helm.